The Phantom Boy
by kittykatiekun
Summary: Sam and Tucker meet Danny during their Junior year of high school. With him comes ghostly problems. Danny, suffering from a tragic past, tries to gain allies and get strong enough to beat his arch enemy. AU S/D I fixed the first chapter's quotation issue.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all associated with it belongs to Butch Hartman. If it belonged to me there would be more Dan Phantom.

* * *

"Class…We have a new student. This is Daniel Fenton."

Hardly anyone even bothered to look up at the new student.

"Danny's fine," he said.

"Ok, Mr. Fenton," said Mr. Lancer sarcastically, "find an empty seat."

He waved his hand vaguely towards the back of the room.

* * *

Sam had her head propped up with her hand. She wasn't even trying to keep the look of boredom off of her face. Mr. Lancer's class was, by far, the worst class of the day. Earlier this year, he even tried to get her to dissect frogs. Busy staring at nothing, she didn't even see the new student until he bumped into her desk.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his eyes meeting her's.

"It's fine."

As Mr. Lancer started class, Sam tried to get a good look at the new kid. His raven black hair was long enough to cover his eyes and hung long in the back as well. He could probably pull it up into a pony tail if he wanted to. His skin seemed to pale for the rest of his appearance, as if he hadn't seen the sun for awhile. His clothes were too baggy to be in style. His red and white shirt looked a size too big and his jeans weren't the skinny kind that many had taken to wearing. His whole appearance seemed worn. Even his Converse looked as if they would fall apart at any second.

"A nonconformist," she thought, "maybe we should be friends."

She took out a piece of paper and started writing.

* * *

Danny wasn't surprised when no one took much notice in his coming. He hadn't made much of an effort to look nice and making friends wasn't his first priority at Casper High. On his way to an empty seat in the back he accidentally bumped into another desk. The goth girl seated there had flipped her head up in surprise as he mumbled his apology. As the class started, he could feel her observing him. He tried his best to show no sign that he had noticed her. He glanced around the class room, focusing on nothing in particular. The girl that was looking at him definitely stood out among the class. Her dark hair was about the same shade as his and she had part of it pulled up. Her eyes were an unusual lavender color. Her skin was pale but not abnormally so. She wore a black tank top, a black skirt, purple tights, and combat boots. Although she dressed darkly, her demeanor seemed quite open.

"I should probably try to make the best of this," he thought, opening a notebook. "It's like he's trying to put us to sleep."

His thought process was interrupted when a triangular note hit his desk. He opened it.

_Hi, I'm Sam Manson. If we have any classes together I'd be glad to show you around._

He copied his class list onto the note and returned it to Sam.

* * *

Sam smiled as she noted that Danny had all of the same classes as her. She wrote back telling him so. Danny never replied because Mr. Lancer sent a glare their way. When the bell finally rang, the entire class let out a sigh of relief. As she and Danny stood up she asked:

"What brings you to Casper High?"

"I just moved to Amityville."

"Cool. Your parents get a job here or something?"

"No. I came here alone." As he replied, sadness filled his eyes. "My parents died in an, um, lab accident a few years ago.

She apologized, not commenting on the hesitation she heard before the word accident.

"So goth?" he asked.

"I hate when people change themselves to try and fit in. Normalcy is over rate."

"Trust me. I don't exactly fit into the category of normal either," he replied laughing, but the sad look stayed in his eyes.

Their arrival at the next class ended the conversation.

****************

A/N: Thank you for reading my first fan fiction ever. It is unedited but I hope to change that soon. I hope you liked it. I don't need a certain number of reviews to post the next chapter, but reviews of any kind let me know that someone is reading it. Even if you hate it. I am writing this for me but posting it for you.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Never have, Never will. Unless the ones who do own it will it to me and I inherit it. But that's not gonna happen.

*******************

At lunch Danny decided to sit with Sam. He had packed his lunch, so he scanned the room as he waited for her. He went through the inventory of names and faces that he had been building up in the last three periods. The center of the room held the popular group. A tall, blonde jock by the name of Dash sat next to his girlfriend Paulina, who looked to have Latino origins. Next to her sat Starr, you stereotypical cheerleader and her foot ball boyfriend, Kwan. Danny had picked up Sam's distain for them very quickly and had agreed wholeheartedly. Although they may have been good looking the were superficial.

An almost unnoticeable wisp of blue smoke came out of Danny's mouth. He stood rigidly until he spotted a long dead lunch lady in the back corner of the room.

"No threat there," he sighed with relief as Sam came into the room.

He followed her to a table that was already occupied by one student. He was an African American boy with glasses and a red beret.

As they sat down opposite him Sam said: "Danny, Tucker. Tucker, Danny."

Tucker nodded. "Tucker Foley, Local techno-geek.

"Danny Fenton, new guy."

Danny chuckled quietly when he noted what his new friends were eating. Sam ate a veggie burger, while Tucker ate a cheeseburger with three patties.

"What?" the two of them asked in unison.

"Nothing, it's just that the two of you seem so different that I wondered how you can stand each other."

As the two of them shrugged, Sam and Tucker slipped into a argument over meat and Danny was content to just listen. He relaxed for the first time in weeks as they went over the previously fought battle.

* * *

As the school day ended, someone who didn't know better would have assumed that the three of them had been friends for ages. Sam hadn't had any new friends since Tucker and her met in third grade and was glad to have someone new to talk to.

"So, Danny… Where is your house?" Asked Sam.

"It's the brick one on the corner of Main and Fourth."

Tucker whistled. "Wow that one's supposed to be haunted. Do you think you have any ghosts?"

Danny winced at the word. "No I don't believe in ghosts," he said, all the while thinking "You have no idea."

Sam noticed the wince. "Too bad," she said, "Tuck has tons of stories. Me I'm a vampire girl."

"So I like a good ghost story," Tucker responded, "Do you mind if we come over Danny?"

"Not really, but since I just moved in yesterday, not much of my stuff is unpacked yet."

Well I don't want to see my parents any earlier than I have to," said Sam, "So let's go hang at the Nasty Burger."

***************

Sam tossed and turned in her room for what seemed like hours.

"I can't take this anymore. I've got to get outside."

Sam snuck up onto the roof of her house. She gazed at the stars.

"Too bad I live in the city," she thought," I'd like to be able to see the stars clearly."

She continued to stargaze until she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Sitting on a roof a few houses down was a boy. At least she thought it was a boy. His long white hair was pulled back to reveal bright green eyes. They almost seemed to glow. His black clothing was tight enough to show off his toned muscles. His white gloves, belt, and boots stood out in contrast to the rest of his outfit. There seemed to be an emblem of some sort in his shirt as well. It looked like a D inside of a P. But she had no idea what it could mean. As she made the last of these observations, he turned to look at her. Then he vanished.

*****************

"Crap," Danny thought as he noticed Sam looking at him, "What was I doing so close to her house in the first place?"

He had waited until midnight to transform and fly around town. He drifted and had ended up near Sam's house.

"If I'm not supposed to attract much attention, I'm going to have to be more careful."

Making sure that he was still invisible, he hurried home to finish unpacking.

****************

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. I fixed the last chapter and won't make the same mistake on the rest. Review and let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As you know I don't own Danny Phantom. Insert witty phrase here.

* * *

Sam tried her hardest to stay awake at school the next day. She worried that she was going insane. People just don't vanish. Maybe Amity Park really was haunted. The weirdest part was that the ghost boy had reminded her of Danny. There was something in the way he stood.

"They can't be the same person," she thought, "Danny has dark hair, blue eyes, and isn't the least bit muscular. At least I don't think he is. But even if he is he can't vanish."

Almost as if to confirm her thoughts, Danny walked in looking like he had gotten a full night's sleep. And yet, a doubt lingered in her mind. As she, Danny, and Tuck walked out of school at the end of the day, she noticed a pale, blonde man standing near a black motorcycle. Although his appearance was grungy the worse part was how unnaturally dark his shadow seemed. Danny had noticed him too.

"You guys go on ahead," he said," I'll meet up with you at the Nasty Burger."

"Yeah. Sure Danny. Whatever."

* * *

As he walked out of school, a familiar wisp of smoke came out of Danny's mouth. Then he saw the motorcycle.

"Johnny," he thought.

After sending his friends off he walked over to the man.

"Hey Johnny. What made you come find me? I take it this isn't a social call." Johnny's shadow lunged at Danny's leg.

"Down Shadow!" snapped Johnny, "Danny isn't the enemy here. I thought I'd come warn you. He's planning something." Johnny didn't elaborate on who was planning something. They both knew well enough.

"I think he's going to send someone," Johnny continued." No one risked staying long enough to find out who that might be. But I thought you might want the warning anyway."

"Thanks Johnny, I appreciate it. You guys risk a lot to help me out. Tell Kitty I said hi."

Johnny climbed on his motorcycle, his shadow oozing behind him. "Sure, sure. It's no problem. We have a common enemy. Oh, and Danny, Val says she's coming."

Before Danny could think of a response Johnny was gone.

* * *

Sam pulled Tucker along behind her.

"Sam, Danny said that he would meet us later."

"No, Danny said that he would meet us at the Nasty Burger and that was two hours ago."

"So we're going to his house… How do we even know if he is going to be there? We could call him first."

Sam never answered. Danny's house was brick, like most of the houses in the neighborhood. The difference between it and the other houses was the air of sorrow that hung around the place.

"No wonder people think it's haunted." thought Sam, it was even a place that a goth might avoid.

She walked up the concrete steps, still dragging Tucker, and rang the doorbell.

"Coming" someone yelled from inside the house.

Danny opened the door. Sam looked surprised to see Danny with his hair pulled back and wearing clothing that showed of his surprisingly toned muscles.

Sam worked hard to get the look of surprise off her face as she thought, " Oh, I guess he is muscular."

"Oh, hey guys. Come in." said Danny. They moved into his living room. "What are you doing here?"

"We got worried because you never showed up at the Nasty Burger," said Sam.

"I thought that you were fine but Sam freaked out." said Tucker. Sam sent him a glare that said "one more word and you die."

"Sorry. That guy that I talked to outside of school was an old friend of mine. He heard that I had moved and came to see how I was doing. After that I guess I just spaced out."

"No problem, man." said Tucker. "So this is where you live, huh?

"Yeah. Home Sweet Home," said Danny with a tone of bitterness. "Come on. Let's go upstairs."

The living room held a couch, a TV, and a few boxes. One doorway led to a kitchen and another door lead else where, presumably the basement. They walked up the stairs to Danny's room. Upstairs, there was a bathroom and three bedrooms. Two were unoccupied.

"So you really do live alone," said Sam.

She looked around the room. It had a bed, desk, work lamp, and closet. There was nothing personal in it at all. Except a picture on his nightstand. She picked it up to look at it. It had Danny, a girl with red hair that looked slightly older than him, a man with short salt and pepper hair with a goofy smile on his face wearing an orange jumpsuit, and a woman with brownish red hair in a bob that was wearing a blue jumpsuit. As she was looking, Danny had come over to stand beside her.

"Is this your family?"

"Yeah my sister, Jazz, my mom, Maddie, and my dad, Jack." He pointed to each as he named them.

"So why aren't they living here?" asked Tuck. Sam kicked herself for not telling him that Danny's parents were dead.

"Um, my mom and dad were scientists and they died in a lab accident. One of their experiments went wrong and blew up." Danny answered quietly.

"So what about your sister?"

"Living with a family friend."

"Why aren't you living with them?" asked Sam." Do you not like the guy or what?"

"I hate him with a passion," when Danny said this it was obvious that he was telling the truth. " But Jazz… Jazz practically worships the ground he walks on."

"Oh. Well…Um…" Sam and Tucker had no idea what to say.

"Well I'm glad you hate the guy," Tuck said. "His loss is our gain.'

"Agreed." Sam said. "So how do you pay for living here?"

"I had some money saved up and I found some money that I, um, inherited I guess."

"And you used it to buy vegetarian snacks, right?"

"Right…"

"So let's have a movie party!"

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the review that I got on . This seemed like a good place to stop but I might write the next chapter and update again tonight. Hopefully I can keep this update rate up. I tried a new story format that I like better. Tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. I just borrow the characters. I promise to put them back when I'm done.

A/N: I don't usually put these at the beginning but I just wanted to let you know that this story will be changing, hopefully for the better. As I tried to write this chapter, a new inspiration for this story struck me, completely changing my plans. I like this new plot better and hope you will too. So I apologize if the way I write this story changes. But you have to listen to the plot bunnies, especially since I think the new bunny ate the old one.

* * *

The mercenary stood looking at the man on the throne. The room was dark but both of them could see each other perfectly. It helped that the man standing was wearing a battle suit and had green glowing eyes and hair.

"You sent a summons with a proposition?" the mercenary asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Of course. Rumor is you are the best." the man sitting answered. "Your reputation as the Ghost Zone's best hunter proceeds you."

"The job?" he asked warily. The mercenary could sense that this was not a man to trifle with.

The man threw a photograph at the mercenary.

"Easy." he smirked as he saw his quarry.

"We shall see."

* * *

The next few weeks went smoothly for Danny and his friends. Sam and Tucker brought things to Danny to make his house into a place that at least looked lived in. They even tried to spend as much time as they could there so that Danny wouldn't be lonely. The visible change in Danny was astounding and Sam and Tucker could see that their efforts were working. Danny laughed more and just generally seemed happier. So what if he came in looking more tired each passing day. After all the grief they had caused with their last questions into his personal life, they ignored his exhaustion and kept their worries to themselves. If they ever asked about his weariness or the bruises and pain he occasionally had, he pushed off answering or said, "I bumped into something." Danny didn't say that every night he worked out to hone his skills, that he barely got any sleep, and that his injuries were results of his training. Even telling them about him working out would bring questions that he wasn't ready to answer. He made an effort to be happier and although he was exhausted he was having the best time he had had in a long time. He didn't want the happy times to end and telling them the truth would put them in danger and ruin their lives. It was better if they didn't know. Ever since Sam had seen him he hadn't ventured out much in his ghost form, even late at night. What he didn't know was that every night she watched for the ghost boy, although she had no idea why she did so.

That Monday saw him looking worse than ever. As he walked to school he thought he saw a flash of red turn the corner but when he looked there was nothing there.

"I have to get more sleep" he thought, "I'm starting to see things"

He met Sam and Tucker outside of school and they chatted for a few minutes. The center of conversation being Tuck's new PDA.

"…and it has instant wifi connectivity and it can download at a rate of…"

"TUCKER!" Sam yelled in an attempt to stop him.

"What?" he asked.

Danny just shrugged and laughed. Sometimes Tucker could be a little too into his technology. Although Danny's parents had been scientists, Danny was only proficient enough on a computer. He had been a gaming genius before his parents died and hadn't had much time to play since then. But he and Tucker were starting to get really into this online roleplaying game they had found. He wished he had more time to play but there were way more important things he should be doing.

"Earth to Danny!" Sam said waving her hand in front of his face.

"What?" he said, almost falling backwards.

"We were trying to ask you if you were coming to the Nasty Burger with us before we go see the movie."

"Yeah sure," he replied.

Tucker split up from Danny and Sam as they headed to their first period.

"So what was with you spacing out all of the sudden out there?" Sam asked.

"I was just thinking of the new online game Tuck and I found."

"Typical."

The rest of the school day went as usual. Dash mouthed off in class while his clique laughed and the rest of the class moaned, the ghostly lunch lady stood in the cafeteria watching the students eat, and Danny tried his hardest to maintain concentration. Then finally the last bell rang. Danny gathered his stuff and went to his locker before heading outside to meet Tuck and Sam. He saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye. Turning towards the spot to look, the familiar wisp of smoke came out of his mouth. Danny froze. Looking around as casually as he could, he saw nothing. Then a flaming green arrow landed next to his head.

"That was close," he thought, jumping out of the way and turning to look up at the arrow's origin. Floating in the sky was a huge man. At least Danny thought it was a man.

"I need a distraction," he thought, "I can use the panic to transform unnoticed."

"FIRE!" he yelled.

* * *

Tucker and Sam walked out of school together. They waited on the front sidewalk for Danny. They started having their usual veggies versus meat argument during which Sam glanced over her shoulder quickly and saw Danny coming out of the school. She focused back on the half-hearted argument until she heard the cry of "FIRE!" She looked back toward the school to find Danny but he was no where to be seen. When she felt Tucker pulling on her should she said," We can't leave without Danny. We have to wait for him."

"Fine."

* * *

When the students coming out of the school started running, Danny used his chance to duck around the corner of the school. He knew it wouldn't distract the ghost that had attacked him but he would be able to transform in peace.

"Going Ghost," he whispered and a bright circle appeared around his waist. It split into two circles, one went towards his head, the other his legs. As they moved his outfit changed into the one it always was. Tight and black, with a black belt, gloves, and boots, and his Danny Phantom symbol on his chest. He quickly tied his hair back so it wouldn't get in his way during the inevitable fight that was about to happen and flew towards his enemy.

The man was not one he had seen before and he would remember this one. Although he seemed to be a ghost he wore a gleaming metallic battle suit. His flaming hair and beard were the same glowing green of his eyes. He dressed simply with black pants, a tank top, and black glove and boots. His only sight of adornment was the skull choker he had around his neck. He was clearly a dangerous man.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" asked Danny, staring at his opponent.

"I would think you would know the answer to that ghost boy," the man said. "You are the prey and I am the hunter. Although I am told not to kill you if I don't have to. I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter."

Out of the hunter's wrist flew a ectoplasmic net. Danny was caught but easily phased through the net. Danny flew to punch Skulker's face but he caught Danny's wrist and threw him at a nearby tree. By this time one of the students had noticed the fight.

"GHOST!"

Temporarily distracted, Danny glanced towards the direction of the shout. Using the distraction, Skulker threw anti-phase chains at Danny. Caught and unable to escape, he fell towards the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Sam and Tucker where two of the first students to notice the fight, although nether of them had yelled out. Sam gasped as she recognized the ghost boy.

"What?" Tucker asked without taking his eyes off the fight in the sky.

"I've seen that ghost boy once before."

"Really?" Tucker turned to look at her, "Where?"

"Once late at night he was sitting on the roof of a house near mine. I thought I had imagined it."

"And you never told me?"

"Of course not. You'd think that I was crazy." Tucker just looked at her.

At this point of time, Skulker had Danny captured.

"Tucker…"

"What, Sam?"

"I think we should help."

"Really…I don't think that…"

"Now Tucker!"

"Ok. Ok. Let me see what I can look up about ghost hunting." Tucker whipped out his new PDA. "Hmmmm…."

"What now Tucker?"

"It's just that…I didn't know my PDA was ghost compatible."

Sam's eyes widened. "English please, Foley."

"Well… My new PDA just connected with that big ghost."

"And that means…."

"It means that I could hack him. Geez, Sam don't you know anything?"

"Tucker," Sam sighed, "Just do something."

Sam heard clicking noises as Tucker worked on bringing the big guy down. She concentrated on the fight and tried to figure out why she was so concerned for the mysterious ghost boy.

* * *

Skulker smirked at Danny is he reached the struggling boy.

"Be a good prey and quite struggling," he said as he again raised his arm towards Danny.

"No I can't go back there," thought Danny, "I'm not ready yet."

He closed his eyes, waiting for the blast…That never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see the mercenary. He was frozen! His arm still stretched out towards Danny, the only visible sign of movement was his eyes. He watched as purple filled the mechanic veins on the battle suit. Skulker's arm jerk down and his rocket pack kicked on. The man's eyes widen as he started flying away, apparently unable to control his movements at all. Danny struggled to where he had dropped his things when he transformed. There he turned back into Danny Fenton and returned home, not wanting to raise suspicion about why he had just showed up.

* * *

Sam watched in amazement as the huge ghost lost control of his limbs. She looked over at Tucker, who was still fast at work on his PDA.

"What did you do to him?" she asked in amazement.

"I gorilla'd him." Tucker answered as he sent the ghost into the distance.

"You what?"

"I used this hacker technique called the Purple Back Gorilla. Using it you can take over other computer systems."

"Tucker you are a genius."

"I know."

Neither of them noticed has the ghost boy headed towards the school and transformed into their friend. Or the flash of red that went in the same direction as Skulker.

* * *

Skulker kneeled in front of his employer.

"Give me one reason I should let your incompetence slide."

"There is no excuse for how I have done. However this is personal now. The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter doesn't accept defeat well. If acceptable I would like another chance in the future at the ghost boy. Free of charge of course."

"Of course. You'll get your chance." Skulker's employer said an evil glint entering into his eye.

* * *

A/N: Expect the next update to be very soon. I have the next two chapters almost complete. I just want you to know that I am very proud of this chapter and the coming two. This is easily the best story I have ever written (that has even had hope of completion). Hope you enjoy. Review please.

Sample story I have actually completed:

Once upon a time, there was a person who had a problem. Then they solved it. The end.

I actually used to tell this story to my mother when she would say to tell her a story.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Although this goes unsaid, I don't own Danny Phantom. Although my version would make a great move. ;]

* * *

Over the next few days the main gossip was all about the ghost boy. Danny found it interesting to listen to rumors about himself. They were calling him, Inviso Bill. One of the student had even taken photos of the fight with his phone that ended up on the news, along with interviews of several students. He was bruised after his fight but he'd had much worse before. His eyes darken at the thought.

"Well I think this ghost boy is handsome. I'd date him." Danny looked up to see Paulina speaking.

"What?" Dash asked outraged that his girlfriend would choose a ghost over him.

"Nothing, nothing."

Danny chuckled quietly and turned to his friends. He decided to chance asking them about what they thought. When he asked he was surprised at the answer.

"Tucker hacked the big ghost's system." Sam said.

"Really? Is that true Tuck?" Danny asked, his eyes wide.

"Yep. It was quite easy actually. I'm surprised that it was as easy as it was."

Their conversation was interrupted as the school bell rang, telling them that if they didn't hurry they would be late for first period. Sam and Danny took their seats quickly, sitting right as the last bell rang. They could only hope that Tucker had been as lucky.

"Class, I have an announcement," Mr. Lancer began, "We have another new student., Ms. Valerie Gray. Ms. Gray, I believe there is an open seat by Mr. Baxter."

The girl walked over to her new class mates. She had to sit right in the middle of the popular group. They looked at her for a moment then accepted her with open arms.

Danny watched the new girl through his bangs. She was an African American girl of average height, her brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. She was obviously athletic, her arms and legs showed muscles under the yellow tank top and orange skirt. Danny would have wondered what sport she played, but he knew better.

"This is turning into an interesting day," he thought, not seeing that Sam had noticed his interest in the new girl.

* * *

Sam and Danny headed towards the lunchroom. As they headed down the hall, someone bumped into Danny. As he stumbled backwards trying to regain his balance, he felt something slip into his hand. When he turned around to see who had hit him he saw Valerie's retreating form. When he opened his hand, he saw that he had been passed a note. He leaned up against the nearest wall so that he could read it. He temporarily lost all thoughts to anything that wasn't that note. He didn't know that Sam was watching him read the note and had seen Valerie bump into then pass the note. There wasn't much to the note. All it said was:

Danny,

Meet me on the roof.

-V.

Danny finished reading and was startled to find Sam staring at him.

"You go ahead," he said, "I just remembered that I have to do something."

He walked in the direction that Valerie had gone. As he tried to slide the note into his back pants pocket, he missed, although he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice. Sam snatched it up from the floor. As she read she felt something she had never felt before, jealousy. She quickly caught up to Danny, although she kept slightly behind, not wanting him to notice. When he opened the door that said: "Roof, staff only" she waited a few moments before following him through.

* * *

When Danny walked through the door to the roof, he saw Valerie sitting in the corner with a picnic style meal in front of her.

"Some of that's for me I hope," he said, sitting down across from her, his back to the door.

She laughed. When she noticed Sam slip through the door she said nothing. Danny needed all of the allies he could lay his hands on.

"Of course. I don't think you've had a proper meal since you left." Danny stuck his tongue out at her as he grabbed a roll. Of course he didn't eat as well as he used too, he only had a limited money supply.

'Johnny told me you were coming."

"Did he?"

"Yep. Thanks for the warning by the way. I know what you go through to get information like that."

"No problem. But let's talk about you for awhile. I don't do the things I do for myself. You needed that warning. Besides, that was the worst fight I have ever seen. Have I taught you nothing?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"You saw that?" he groaned, then he remembered all the flashes of red he had seen that day. "You were following me?"

"Well you didn't think he would just send a mercenary out without having someone to watch him, did you?"

"No I guess not."

"Danny," she said, looking at him seriously, "I'm worried about you. You're hardly sleeping and you're training yourself to exhaustion. I mean look at you. You look horrible. You have bags under your eyes and you're covered in bruises. Have you seen yourself? What's with the hair?" she reached out to push his bangs out of his eyes. "You know I like you better with your hair pulled back."

"Maybe you do, but where we used to be nobody cared if I was Phantom or not. Now I have to hide. I can't let people know."

"I know that, but still… At least you have your hair up in your cooler form," she laughed.

"Hey! What's wrong with the way I look now?"

"Nothing," she answered, holding back her laugh, "Finish your lunch. I've got to go but you're not quite done talking yet."

"Hey what do you mean by that?" he asked confused.

"You'll see." She walked to the door of the roof.

* * *

Sam snuck onto the roof. Danny has his back towards her. She listened to the conversation, trying to follow along, although she was very confused. Why would this girl be following Danny? Who did Danny fight? Why would someone send a mercenary after Danny? She listened in growing confusion, then Valerie reached out to touch Danny's hair. Sam surprised herself when she realized that she didn't want other girls touching Danny.

"When did I start to like Danny?" she wondered, her attention wondered until they mentioned Phantom, "Who was phantom?"

Then it hit her, the ghost boy. His symbol was a DP, Danny Phantom. She couldn't find Danny after school during the ghost fight because he was the one fighting. The ghost boy had looked familiar because he was Danny! Sam's mind continue to reel until Valerie came over to her and whispered, "He's all your's."

* * *

Danny watched as Valerie left and Sam came out of her hiding place. All he could do was stare. Sam had been listening the whole time. She had probably figured out his secret by now. He walked over to a wall and started to gently bang his head against it. He heard Sam walk up beside him.

"Danny…"

He looked up at her.

"When are you going to tell me the truth?" Sam asked.

"Bring Tucker to my house tonight. You can tell him if you want. I've got a lot to tell you guys. I'm going to skip the rest of the day. I'll tell you guys everything tonight."

Danny walked past Sam and went to gather his things. Sam stood on the roof until the end of lunch.

* * *

A/N: I felt like this was an awkward chapter. I had a lot of trouble writing it but it was necessary.

Read and review please.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to post another chapter. I have just been so busy with college and in no mood to write. This is only part of what I had originally intended to post, but you guys are probably getting impatient, and this is all I have done. Sorry again, I'll try to get back to this. Hopefully I can get myself to post more in about a week.

Thanks for the comments!

* * *

Sam and Tucker made their way to Danny's house around 5 o'clock that night. They had put off going to Danny's for as long as they could. Sam had told Tucker that Danny was the ghost boy and ever since then they hadn't spoken much. When they got to Danny's door Sam hesitated.

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this. I mean if he had wanted us to know he would have told us in the first place."

"Sam, now isn't the time to chicken out," Tucker said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "We need to know and he knows that."

Sam steeled herself for what was to come and rang the doorbell. Danny met them at the door and took them down stairs to his basement. This was the only part of his house that they hadn't seen. The walls were coated in a metallic surface and it made the room seem larger than it should have been. Around the room stood various tables with strange devices on them, some were half broken. A giant shuttle sat in one corner, a blocked off area in another. Also scattered around the room were different weight lifting machines. Sam let out a hard breath as she realized how Danny had come by most of his bruises. Danny sat on the floor in the center of the room and they followed suit.

"Sorry it's not very comfortable down here but I'm not down here to relax," he said with a half hearted attempt at a smile. "I suppose you are wondering why I didn't tell you. Or how I got this way, but I think once I tell you my story you'll understand a bit better. It going to be long and I'm going to have to start at a time before I was born." Danny took a deep breath and tried to calm his mind. He didn't want to break down in front of his friends. As mentally prepared as he could be, he began.

"Along side our world, the world of the living, there is another world called the Ghost Zone. Any ghost that is not haunting the human world resides there. My parents Jack and Maddie Fenton were the world's leading paranormal experts. They created many anti-ghost inventions and were probably the closest any human had ever gotten to entering the Ghost Zone. When they were in college, about twenty years ago, they were very good friends and colleagues with a Vlad Masters…"

"Wait…" Tucker yelled, "You mean THE Vlad Masters, richest man in Wisconsin and tenth richest in the United States?"

"The same… although the fact that he is rich does nothing for his personality," Danny replied grimly, "Anyway…as I was saying, when the were in college they started on a project they called "The Fenton Portal," it was a gate way to the Ghost Zone. They had almost perfected it when a miscalculation presented itself during a trial run. Vlad, who was the closest to the portal, was severely injured and had a bad case of ecto-acne. Although he recovered quickly, he became enraged at my parents for what had happened to him. What my parents didn't know, was that Vlad ended up getting ghost powers, that made him half ghost and half human. They also didn't know that Vlad ended up perfecting their portal and using it for his own power gain. For the next ten years, while my parents were raising a family, Vlad was raising an army. For the first few years after he got his powers, he practiced and became one of the most powerful ghosts in history, calling himself Vlad Plasmius. He perfected the portal and began to gain allies in the Ghost Zone for the purpose of taking it over. He also used his ghost powers to gain massive amounts of money in the human world, so that he could live comfortably and be able to purchase what he needed to fuel a war. Then ten years ago, he succeeded in taking over the Ghost Zone with his major allies, Pariah Dark, Hotep-Ra, and Aragon. Setting himself up as the leader, they lead a reign of terror the likes of which the Ghost Zone had never seen. Then, about a year ago he brought the war to the human world when he killed my parents…" Danny paused, not wanting to continue, he was about to enter the darkest part of his life. He looked up when Sam moved nearer to him. At least he wouldn't be reliving his worst memories alone.

"When I was almost sixteen years old, my parents died in a lab accident. My parents were fine tuning the new and improved Fenton Portal when it happened."

*****************

Flashback

"Danny, bring me that screw driver near your foot.'

"Here you go, mom."

"Thanks, hun."

Danny watched as his parents put the finishing touches to their Fenton Portal, a project they had been working on since college. It was a large metal octagon, taller that he was, that was hooked up to the wall. He and his parents were all wearing jumpsuits, he and his dad's were matching orange.

"Well that should about do it. What do you think Jack?"

"It looks good on my side," his dad said as he gave a thumbs up.

"Well let's try this thing out." His mother and father stood together as they pushed the on button on the wall.

Then Danny was deafen by a loud blast. His eyes shut as he was hit by a blast of green flames. He was so hot, he was burning. He tried to scream but no sound came out. He slowly faded into a blissful unconsciousness.

End Flashback

******************

"When I woke up I was in the hospital. My sister had come home to a burning house that was surrounded by firefighters. My parents had been killed instantly by the blast but I, miraculously, survived. When I was told what happened I cried, I should have died too. I was mad at myself for not doing something, although there was nothing I could have done. That night at the hospital when I was so mad at myself, I floated towards the ceiling. I freaked out but once I had control I let myself back down. When I looked in the mirror I saw myself like this…" Danny stopped talking as he transformed. His friends mouths dropped open as they watched him. "So what do you think? I got ghost powers but at the cost of my parents lives." Sam and Tucker said nothing and he changed back..

" The next day I met the man who killed my parents, although I didn't know it at the time. Vlad Masters took us in when we had no one else. We were supposed to grateful and at first we were. When we got to his house for the first time, he revealed that he was also half ghost and offered to teach me how to use my powers."

*******************

Flashback

Vlad brought me into his library. It was the biggest library I had ever seen. Books lining both wall and only stopping on another wall where they met a large marble mantle.

"Daniel, tell me truthfully, since your parents' accident, have you gained any new powers?"

My mind was racing. Should I tell him of my new powers?

"Daniel, you can tell me. I understand if you don't want anyone to know, but we are more alike than you think."

He began to transform as I watched in amazement. His hair stood up in two peaks and his skin was a blue white. His red pupils matched his new red and white outfit. Then smoke came out of my mouth like it did when I first saw him.

"That, my dear boy, is your ghost sense."

End Flashback


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

A/N: So it's been almost a year since my last update I think. Sorry about that. But I'm back and I'm going to try to finish this. I'll try to update as regularly as possible. Anyway…. Here you go:

Chapter 7

"Afterwards, he started training me. Jazz had no idea what we were doing, but she was happy that "Uncle" Vlad and I were getting along. She practically worshipped him. The two of them were on equal ground when it came to academics and it had pleased her to find that the man who had taken us in was as smart as she was. Our training mostly consisted of how to control my powers and manifesting it in different forms, such as plasma blasts and shields. He never taught me how to fight though. He did promise to show me other techniques, like splitting myself in two, when I became more advanced. When I had mastered most of the basic techniques, Valerie showed up. At the time Jazz and I thought that she was just another orphan that Vlad had kindly taken into his home.

Val and I hit it off pretty well when we met, we were both the same age and had many of the same interests. Then Vlad told me that Val was going to start training me using my ghost powers. She was a black belt in several types of martial arts and proficient in many other types of fighting. When I asked her how she knew so much of fighting with ghosts, she replied vaguely about being a ghost hunter. She was a tough teacher but I learned to fight pretty quickly. At first Vlad would come in several times a week to watch us as we sparred and she corrected my techniques. After awhile he quit coming and sometimes Val and I would just sit and talk. The only subject we never touched was our parents, she only told me once that her father had died.

As Valerie and I trained, Vlad had Jazz working on plans for different ghost fighting technology. She showed a genius that rivaled that of our parents. The only time the two of us saw each other was at meals. Sometimes Vlad and Valerie would go on trips all of the sudden. They would tell us the day before they left and be gone before we woke up. There seemed to be nothing strange about Vlad's coming and going, after all he was a successful business man. Valerie's excuses were usually about some martial arts tournament or something similar. It was during one of these times that I discovered Vlad's true nature.

Flashback

The library at night was pretty eerie. Shadows from the statues around the room looked a little too much like people lurking there in the dark. Looking around I wondered again about why I was wake. There was just something that was keeping me up. Glancing around the room, I noticed a sliver of light that didn't seem to have a source. I walked up to the light near the bookcases next to the mantle. It was like there was some secret passage way. Leaning up against the shelf, I pressed just the right book that opened a hidden staircase. Curious I went down, wondering what could be hidden below. At the bottom of the stairs was a door that was open, leading to what almost seemed to be a lab. Vlad was eccentric but he didn't seem the type to need an underground lair. No not a lair. A lab. What was I thinking? He had plenty of lab space upstairs. Perhaps this was left over from a previous owner. I hoped so, something about this whole room made me nervous. Especially since the large portal on the far wall, looked suspiciously like the Ghost Portal my parents had been working on when they died. There was a large set of computer monitors on the wall to my right. I walked over and sat in the chair, still wondering what I was doing down here.

Looking around at what was on the computer, I found plans for weapons like the ones that Vlad was working with Vlad to create. Except these included what looked a lot like battle plans. I found lists of troops and even some correspondents between Vlad and his other commanders. What had I gotten myself into? Who was Vlad really? Then I saw the orders for killing my parents. There in front of me were all of the plans for setting up my parents murder to look like an accident. I went numb. We had unknowingly been living with our parents' murderer. I swung my fist towards the monitor intending to break it. An inch from the screen I stopped, finding some of the self-control that had come with my new fighting skills. If he found out that I knew, he could kill me and my sister. And no one would ever know.

End Flashback

When I found out that Vlad was not the man I thought he was I didn't confront him. I reset his lab to the way it was when I came down. There was only a brief moment of panic when I considered that he probably had cameras all around his house, watching our every move. I erased my presence from the videos the best I could, but I'm still not sure that he didn't find out. I never confronted him about it. He was too powerful for that. I started to become more reclusive. Questioning things that I didn't question before. I would rebel and not work on lessons. I never came to eat meals, instead I took them in my room. The house was my prison, I saw video cameras everywhere and did my best to stay out of their sight. I spent time sneaking out and going to town, trying to find a way out or at least a way to survive living there without losing my mind. Unfortunately, all this was brought unwanted attention from Vlad. He started attending my training lessons again, like he had when I first started them. I tried my hardest to do my worse and got many bruises from Valerie. If she noticed my change in behavior, she didn't say anything or take it easy on me. Then once when Valerie was away, Vlad did something that he had never done before, he wanted to spar with me."

I paused in my story, thinking back to that day.

Flashback

I stepped into the training room, hoping not to see Vlad. Hoping that there would only be me and Valerie. Hoping that I could endure this another day.

"Hello Daniel." I turned around, knowing who it was but still hoping that it wasn't.

"Hey… Vlad. Where's Valerie?" I tried to keep my voice steady, my anger was rising again. But today there was something about his manner, that set me on edge.

"Oh. She's not going to be coming today," He smiled as he said this, changing into his ghost form, "Today your opponent will be me. Get ready, boy."

He lunged toward me and I barely changed form in time.

"Vlad? What is with you?" I wondered if he had found out that I had been in his lab. I dodged as he attacked again.

"Why nothing my dear boy. What would make you think that something was wrong?" He attacked relentlessly, this time punching me in the stomach.

I yelled, flying backwards. He was stronger than I ever imagined. How could I ever defeat this man?"

End Flashback

Shaking off the memory of that day, I continued on with my story.

"I was beaten badly. I was barely able to defend myself, let alone attack. Although I had improved and had gotten pretty good at fighting, I was nothing compared to him. I probably still don't compare. I broke three ribs, cracked a few other bones, and sustained burns and bruises on almost all of my body. Although I was in ghost form at the time of the fight, they showed even worse in my normal form. I was unconscious for a week. I heal much faster than most people do, Vlad beat me bad enough that I still felt it, longer after the visible bruises were healed. I have no idea how he kept all of my injuries from Jazz but she never seemed to know anything about it. I suppose he told her I was in some kind of car accident. I had tried telling Jazz about Vlad and what he had done, but she would have none of it. My sister had been brainwashed, taken in by this man who had killed our parents. Unknowingly she was even helping him to make weapons by recreating our parents' work.

It was the day I woke up that I knew that I had to risk it all to break out of this house and away from Vlad. My first ally in my plan was Johnny. Johnny and I had met once in town, before I ever knew about Vlad's true nature. He did odd jobs around town. He was normally the type I would avoid, but there was something so open about him. I knew he was a ghost from the ghost sense that I had developed upon obtaining my powers. He was as surprised to find another ghost as I was. Although he is a ghost he maintains a solid human form. His ghost is manifested in Shadow. At first Johnny was wary, which he later explained to me was because I lived with Vlad. But once he opened up to me he told be of many things about being a ghost that I had never known, mostly about the Ghost Zone. Once I found out about Vlad he told me who he really was. Johnny was part of The Alliance, a secret group fighting against Vlad and his army. He was in the town to keep a permanent watch on Vlad's house. I had no reason to join the Allies and I still don't . I want revenge on Vlad, not to save people. But Johnny understood my feelings and offered to help me escape.

After making plans with Johnny, continued being a bit reclusive but I stopped rebelling. I would do as told and accept it. It was the perfect plan to make Vlad stop watching me. At the time, Johnny work for a shipping company and helped me to move my stuff out. For about two months, we moved all my things out little by little. During that time, Valerie was still gone and Vlad continued to be my training partner. Although I still got beat pretty badly it never escalated near the point where I broke anything. Then my chance came when Vlad announced that he would be going out of town for the weekend. That night I went to Vlad's secret lab. This time I didn't even bother to conceal my presence in the lab. I knew Vlad had cameras hidden all around the house, but when he found out that I had left he would have no idea where I had gone. I went over to the desk that held the computer where I learned of all Vlad's plans and picked the lock on the safe to steal some money. Then I took a handheld ghost portal and went straight into the Ghost Zone using the Specter Speeder.

When in the Ghost Zone, I punched in the coordinates Johnny had given me onto the onboard computer and inserted a flash drive for the rest of the directions. I was going to be with the Alliance for awhile, and the flash drive was to keep me from knowing exactly where I was going and to keep Vlad from tracking us. Obviously, someone in the Alliance was very good with technology. I had never been there before but the swirling green space seemed quieter than I would have imagined. This was a result of Vlad's take over. The once lively Zone was filled with fear. I spent a few days at the hideout of the Alliance to confuse my trail. A few days later I headed out again. I encountered no one on my way to the place where I would use my hand-held portal to enter the basement on my new house. The next day, I started school and met you guys. That day when Johnny was outside of the school he came to warn me of an attack that was coming and that Valerie was coming to town. The attack he was warning me about was Skulker."

With this I finished my story, wondering how they would react. So far they had been quiet, I had been so wrapped up in my own past that I hadn't even heard if they had gasped or had any other reactions. I had avoided looking at them to much during my story. I was afraid of their reactions. It had been so long since I had had any friends that had nothing to do with my past. I swept some of the stray hair out of my face and looked up.

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter and I thank everyone who commented or decided to follow me for updates. I hate when authors leave stories unfinished so I will finish this if I can. Let me know what you think! Sorry there isn't much dialogue….


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Don't own Danny Phantom…

A/N: I switched perspectives in that chapter without meaning to at the end. I'll try to be more careful in this chapter. And maybe someday I'll go back and fix all of this.

Sam looked at Danny, unsure what to say. His story was… incredible to say the least. She knew he was half-ghost, he had already showed them that, but the rest was… much more fantastic than she had been expecting. He had been living with freaking Vlad Masters! The richest man in the U.S. The kind of man even her parents would want to hang out with. She couldn't get her head wrapped around it all. What could Vlad possibly want with Danny? Why was he pursuing him so hard? She was trying so hard to think about what to say to Danny that she barely heard Tuck ask,

"What about Valerie? How did she end up with Vlad?"

Danny thought about what he needed to say, while taking a worried look towards Sam, she wasn't taking this quite as easily as he had hoped.

"Well… Val's father, Damon, was also killed by Vlad," Danny answered, " Vlad hired Damon to be his 'bodyguard,' not that her really needed one he was just trying to keep up appearances. Then one day Damon found out about Vlad's plans and let an Alliance member sneak into the house for an assassination attempt. Vlad killed both him and the assassin. Valerie has been trained by Vlad ever since. She is a prodigy, one of the best non-ghost combatants he has. She ranks pretty highly among ghosts too. She joined Vlad to learn how he worked, to find his weak points. She is an Alliance member, although I am one of the few who is privy to that information. She's one of the most vital members as she sends false information to Vlad's troops and can report on his army's movements. Valerie is here to watch my movements and report back to Vlad. From what we can gather, he was training me to become his successor and doesn't want me to get away. As half ghosts we hold sway over both worlds, human and ghost. I'm too valuable an asset to lose and he can't risk me falling into the hands of the Alliance."

Now Sam was staring at Danny, he was much more important and in much more danger than she had originally had though. He practically had a war going on over him. The Allies wanted him on their side and Vlad wanted him for a successor. This fact even stopped Tuck from asking further questions.

"Um… guys?"

Sam snapped out of her thoughts has Danny touched her arm and tried to get their attention. He smiled nervously at her.

"How about you Sam? Any other question?"

"Not really. Just trying to… take it all in."

Tuck spoke up to, "Yeah man, this whole thing is epic. Like something out of a movie. It's really cool."

Danny really smiled at that, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Glad you think so. I was so worried that you guys would freak."

"No Danny," Sam looked him straight in the eyes, "You are our friend now and we stand by you no matter what."

"Thanks guys." Danny tried hard to keep from tearing up. This had gone much better than he had hoped. He still had his friends and they were perfectly fine with what he was.

"I still have time before my patrol if you guys want to grab a bite at the Nasty Burger."

"Great I'm starving." Tucker rubbed his stomach. "Wait. What do you mean patrol?"

"Well Val and I are running patrols at night to make sure Vlad isn't sneaking anyone into town, except Val of course. I'm watching for awhile, then she's going to take over."

Sam grabbed his arm, "Well let's go then."

That night Danny fell into bed, exhausted. It was already passed one and his patrol shift had just ended, but he felt better knowing that he was trying his hardest to protect his new friends. He quickly fell asleep, but odd dreams were waiting for him.

He opened his eyes and peered around, confused. His entire body was surround by some strange green liquid. He appeared to be in some kind of container, like a fish tank. He reached his hand up and touched the glass surrounding him. There was something very wrong about this whole scenario. Outside the tank was a lab of some sort, a medical lab perhaps. He started panicking. What was going on? Where was he?

"Oh. So you are awake." Danny snapped his eyes around towards the voice. They widened as they saw the speaker.

"Welcome… Little Badger."

A/N: Any guess. What is going on here? What is with these dreams? Please feel free to guess!


End file.
